"Lifeless words carry on…

Then, I know

All I know

Is that the end's beginning"

-Shattered

Chapter 13: Accepting the Unacceptable

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

"What?" Harry sputtered before quickly rising from his chair. The headmaster had just pulled the small book out from the drawer of his desk causing the raven-haired boy to stare at it in awe. "Have you destroyed it, yet?" he managed to ask.

"No," he replied, causing Harry's face to fall into a disappointed look. "Because you already succeeded in doing that for me," he finally said.

The disappointment quickly shifted into disbelief. "How?"

"A horcrux only takes in that which makes it stronger," Dumbledore put it simply, "So when you drove the basilisk venom into it, the fragmented soul the diary previously contained was pushed out and soon after destroyed."

Now knowing how to kill off these pieces of Voldemort, there was only one last thing Harry needed to know. "How will we find the others?"

"That takes me back to my previous statement," the Headmaster told him, looking directly into Harry's eyes for the second time that night as he did so, "Did you happen to see the ring Tom was admiring or the locket Professor Slughorn was eyeing?"

Thinking back, Harry did recall the fine jewelry Riddle wore in that scene. "Yeah," he replied before it dawned on him, "You think those could be horcruxes now?" he asked hopefully.

Dumbledore shook his head, "I do not think, Harry, I know." After that, the man pulled out both the ring and necklace along with a golden goblet and a fancy looking diadem.

"Are they-?"

"Yes, my boy," Dumbledore cut him off. "They were all once horcruxes that have now been destroyed." The headmaster then handed over the locket Harry previously saw upon Voldemort's neck. It wasn't the jewelry he became intrigued with, though. It was the sight of his mentor's hand decaying that caught all of his attention.

"Sir?" he said with upmost concern. Harry swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat before asking, "What's that?"

He looked down in shame, "That, my boy is the mark of an old man's foolish mistake."

"What do you mean?" the Gryffindor quickly asked him, suddenly feeling the need to sit down.

Taking his seat as well, the other man explained, "You see, ever since I learned of the horcruxes two years ago, I have been frantically researching and hunting them down. I became overly excited when I finally managed to obtain one and decided to put it on my own finger for safe keeping. There is much more to this event that I do not wish to divulge," He sighed, "But to make a long story short: That ring contained far more than just a piece of Voldemort's soul. It was this knowledge that caused me to become all the more eager to take care of it. I wasn't thinking clearly and upon doing so, I released a terrible curse into my body that will soon, unfortunately kill me."

Harry couldn't fight the gasp that escaped his lips. "N-no," he shook his head, "There has to be something-"

"Professor Snape has already prolonged the process as long as possible, my dear boy," he told him quite sadly. It wasn't himself the headmaster felt terrible for, but Harry instead. The poor child had just lost his best friend, and was now about to lose his guide by the end of his next school year. As if having the weight of the Wizarding World wasn't enough…

Harry felt slightly thankful towards his most hated Professor in that moment, but the feeling quickly dissipated once he realized that regardless of what he or anybody else did, the man would die soon. It would be another loss that the teen had no control over, and would be another death that he would feel extremely guilty about. He was what Voldemort truly wanted, after all.

"Do not feel bad, Harry," the Headmaster broke the silence, "This is a good thing, I assure you," he told him with that ever so annoying twinkle in his eye. What was there to 'twinkle' about right now? The man was dying!

"How do you figure?" he said hoarsely. All of the depression he had finally managed to let go of over the summer had suddenly returned with much force.

"Because now there remains only one horcrux to be destroyed," he told his student, "Thanks to Severus, Nagini is no longer one to worry about."

Harry's eyes widened and he began putting the pieces together, "Nagini…Voldemort's snake…horcrux…What did Snape do?" he finally asked in utter shock.

Dumbledore let out a soft laugh that slightly frustrated Harry. "As I'm sure you did not know," he said, "Professor Snape is, or rather, was a spy. He had been working undercover for the order to retrieve information that proved vital in keeping you safe. Unfortunately, he had to renounce that title in order to deal with Nagini for me. This was the only way to destroy one of the final horcruxes, you see," the man explained, "For none of us would have been able to get so close to Voldemort's familiar without being caught. As it were, poor Severus barely managed to get away and has now put himself in terrible danger."

Harry was officially dumbstruck. The greasy git had been protecting him all this time? And he was a spy?

"Yes, Harry," the Headmaster chuckled once more, "Professor Snape is one of the good guys."

"But why would he risk his life for me? I thought he hated me," Harry told him quite knowingly. Anybody with a clear set of eyes could tell the Potions Professor despised the boy's very existence. Harry learned just last year, however, that he had his father to thank for that one. Still, it wasn't much of an excuse in his opinion. The boy was clearly not his dad, despite the uncanny likeness in appearances.

"I shall let Professor Snape explain, dear boy, for it is not my place to do so," he said firmly, providing no argument against the matter.

Harry sighed, and changed the subject. "So, is that all of them?" he asked, "The horcruxes, I mean."

Dumbledore gave Harry a look that he almost recognized to be pity, but couldn't be entirely sure because the older man put up an emotionless mask soon after. "We suspect there may be another," he admitted.

"Do you have any idea what it might be?" he asked, again with much hope.

For the first time that night, the headmaster looked away from the boy who sat before him. "It's getting late," he stated, "And I believe you have another meeting to attend, do you not?"

Again, Harry was bewildered. Did that man truly know everything? He didn't know, but didn't feel up for questioning it at the moment. He had too many thoughts going on in his mind as it were.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Do you think I should go, though?" he asked, recalling Hermione's advice to ask the Professor before meeting up with his enemy.

"I should think so," Dumbledore confirmed. "It would be rude to decline such an invitation," he stated.

At the younger boy's look of apprehension, the Headmaster put in a few more words of reassurance, "Curfew is in an hour," the man stated, "And if you are not back in the tower by then, I will personally come for you." He then placed a comforting hand on the Gryffindor's shoulder until he appeared thoroughly convinced.

It was then that Harry was just about to leave when he remembered his best friend's other order of getting the headmaster to inspect the pendant he had received for his birthday.

"Sir?" he said in order to gain the older man's attention once more.

"Yes, Harry?" he turned around to face the teen.

He fished the small snake-shaped piece of jewelry out of his pocket and held it up by its silver chain. "Someone sent this to me and I'm not sure why or even who it's from," Harry told him. "Hermione suggested having it looked at before wearing it or anything." After those words, he couldn't help but to feel bad seeing as the headmaster had placed that ring upon his finger without thinking and caught him a deadly curse.

"Your friend is very wise, Harry," he simply said, looking past the guilty look on his student's face. He then took the necklace from the boy's hand and muttered a simple incantation over it.

"It appears to be fine," he confirmed before handing it back over. "I see no reason as to why you should not wear it," Dumbledore smiled, "It truly is a fine piece of craftsmanship."

"Thanks," Harry replied quietly before slipping the chain over his head and onto his neck. No longer wanting to be around his slowly passing mentor, he made his way out of the small office.

As he made his way down the spiral stairs, Harry could only think about how much he would miss the ridiculous socks the headmaster sent him for his birthday every year.

A/N: Okay guys, here's the next chapter!

I posted exactly when I said I would.

I hope you all had a wonderful winter break,

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